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“So what have the doctors said?” Josiah asked, sitting next to Ayden on her bed.

Carson watched his friends hold hands from the chair next to the window. He was almost teetering on the edge of his seat waiting to find out about Ayden’s condition. She looked fine, and she sounded pretty much fine, but that didn’t always mean she actually was. He had been in the room when she went from being seemingly perfect to having a seizure. It was just another one of those things that had happened this year that he wouldn’t be able to forget no matter how hard he tried.

Ayden smiled a little and looked into her boyfriend’s familiar soft green eyes. She had always been crazy about them. The way the colour was such a strange combination to the man’s light brown skin made them seem to glow was one of her favourite sights.

Sinking back into the white pillows underneath her head, Ayden looked up to the ceiling and said, “All the tests they’ve run have apparently come back relatively positive. I’ve completely healed from the hip surgery and my broken arm. In a way, I’m kind of glad I was out of it.” She paused to smirk a little at both of her friends. “At least I didn’t have to walk around in a sling or on crutches.”

“You can walk, though, right?” Carson blurted out. Ayden looked at him with narrowed eyes, unsure of where that had come from. “Because I heard that sometimes when people get out of comas they have to relearn how to walk or talk and basic stuff like that.”

“He’s been on the internet a lot,” Josiah supplied, rolling his eyes fondly at the younger man.

Ayden only smiled and shook her head. “I shouldn’t be surprised. Yeah, Car, I can walk. It takes a little help, though, because I’ve been laying down for a long time. And clearly I can talk.”

She laughed, and Carson had to smile at the musical sound. That was another of the things he had missed so much about the blonde. She was so much fun to be around. Ayden had been one of the only few people to really get him, and they had always been able to get into mischief and have a bunch of laughs together.

Josiah grinned down at the girl, his eyes dancing. “I’m glad your sarcasm is just the same as always.”

Ayden grinned right back and leaned up to kiss her boyfriend on the cheek. They shared a tender smile and she fell right back down into the pillows. “I don’t see why I would wanna leave it behind. It’s a part of who I am, you know!” She laughed before continuing. “But anyway, yeah...I’m actually doing really well, which is surprising to a lot of people around here. Doctors told me that like less than half of the people wake up, and even way less than that make full recoveries. So it’s rare for me to be this okay.”

“Do you feel sick or anything like that?”

Ayden shook her head. “Not really. I mean, I’m still really tired a lot. And I feel weak. Even going to the bathroom feels like I’m climbing a mountain. But this is, what, my fifth day awake? I still sleep for ages. I think my mom said I slept this last time for fourteen hours.”

Carson smirked. “Damn, girl. Wish I could get that kind of beauty rest.”

Ayden and Josiah both laughed softly while the brunet grinned cheekily at his friends. They were all silently glad that the air around them wasn’t uncomfortable or strained. It somehow felt like old times, before anything bad had ever happened to the three of them.

“Well it better be worth it,” Ayden commented. “I’m bored in here when I am awake. I wish they’d have let you two come see me earlier.”

“It’s okay,” Josiah said. “You needed time to rest up.”

Ayden rolled her eyes. “Resting is all I’ve been doing for three months.” Her green eyes widened as she remembered something. She glanced back and forth between her friends. “Wow, though. Can you believe it was three months? When I first heard that, I almost laughed. I’d thought they’d lost their minds, you know? It felt like no time at all to me.”

"Well it felt like forever to us," Carson mumbled.

It grew quiet, but Josiah spoke up before it could get awkward. "When do you get to leave the hospital?"

"Early next week, I think. As long as I'm doing alright and nothing goes wrong, I should be able to get out of here." Ayden smiled at the men. "So, guys. Fill me in on all I've missed."

Josiah and Carson both share a brief glance that Ayden was somehow oblivious to. The brunet bit at his bottom lip and let the older man answer the blonde’s question.

Shrugging, he said, “Not really anything too crazy, I guess…”

Ayden cast a disbelieving glance at her boyfriend and shook his hand that was clasped in hers. “Come on,” she whined. “I’ve been checked out of the world for three months. It’s June now. The last time I was awake, it was still chilly outside and we were in the middle of the semester. At least tell me how school went.”

Carson smiled and shook his head. “School sucks, like always. We passed all our classes, though.”

“Oh shit,” Ayden muttered. “I just remembered that I finished this really awesome paper the night that…”

Ayden trailed off as she thought about where her sentence was going. Three months had passed. That meant that there were three months where she was completely inaccessible to her best friend who had to deal with one of the most horrifying things you could go through. Her face screwed up in worry as she stared at Carson.

Before Ayden even opened her mouth, the brunet knew what she was going to say. With the way her sentence withered and died off and how her face betrayed the same kind of pain it had when she had first found out about his rape, it wasn’t hard to figure out what was on her mind.

“I am so sorry, Car--”

“No, don’t worr--”

Ayden shook her head and interrupted her friend. “I will worry. Because while I was completely unaware of everything, you had to deal with some of the most messed up shit I could think of. What’s happened? You’re okay, right?”

Carson chewed on the inside of his cheek. He didn’t feel the urge to cry, or anything. He hadn't really talked much about that night, but it had been enough for him to get the big things off of his chest. Either way, he knew he didn't want to talk about it with Ayden, because he didn't want to upset her over something she couldn't change or affect.

Having spent every single day with the brunet, Josiah knew all of this. It took only one brief glance at his boyfriend to be reminded of it.

The curly-haired man, squeezed Ayden's hand. "He's doing amazing," Josiah said, making eye contact with Carson before he turned back to Ayden. "Trust me, he's handling it all way better than I ever could. I'm proud of him."

Carson felt his face start to warm up a little and propped his feet up on the end of the bed for something to distract himself with. If he was honest, though, he was pleased by Josiah's words.

"I'm glad about that," Ayden said. "Even though I'm really pisses that I wasn't here for you, at least you had Joe."

"Yeah," Carson said, letting his eyes land on his boyfriend. "I was really lucky. I don't know what I would have done without him."

Josiah felt his own blush coat his cheeks. With a chuckle he said, "Oh stop, you're embarrassing me, man."

Catching them all off guard, Carson abruptly said, "I'm sorry for getting you into this mess, Ayd. If it hadn't been for my bad decisions, you wouldn't have ever gotten into that accident."

"Stop, Carson," the blonde said firmly. "Things happen for a reason. It may not always make sense, but I'm sure we'll all get something out of this. A lot of great things sprout from tragedies."

Yet again, sage and blue eyes found each other from different areas of the room. Ayden's theory struck a little too close to home for both Carson and Josiah. If their current romantic relationship was anything worth talking about, it would fit right in with what the blonde was trying to explain to them.

The brunet cleared his throat and looked at Ayden. "Yeah, I guess. We'll find out in time, huh? You know, trust you to always be the positive one, Ayd," he teased.

Ayden smiled smugly. "It just makes me that much better, right? Besides, you both missed it, I know. You can't lie to me."

Josiah laughed lightly, and leaned in to kiss her cheek. "We'd never even dream of it, babe."

Carson tried to brush off the beginnings of jealousy as he watched his boyfriend and best friend flirt seemingly harmlessly.

She had him first, the brunet told himself. You have no right to be jealous or upset. He's technically still with her.

Ayden's light and cheery voice broke into Carson's thoughts. In a playful tone, she asked, "Please tell me that Adam Levine is still hot, though."

Josiah leaned back from the blonde, looking slightly offended. "Excuse me!"

Ayden smirked while the older man narrowed his eyes. "What? These are the important things one needs to know in life." Carson choked back a laugh, not wanting to join the blonde in getting on his boyfriend's bad side. Josiah scoffed. "At least tell me if I've missed any major current events. Just because you two have apparently been boring as heck, there has to have been something interesting in the world that happened."

"Oh yeah," Carson said as seriously as he could. "Channing Tatum and his wife got divorced."

"No freaking way!" the blonde squealed. Her green eyes went wide in question as they locked on her best friend. "So I have a chance now? I've been waiting my whole life for this moment!"

"Hey!" Josiah protested.

"Sorry," Carson said flatly. "You don't stand a chance because he's dating me. I'm the reason they broke up."

Ayden looked confused for a good three seconds before she figured it out. She pouted and glared at the brunet. "You suck! You're such a liar."

Josiah smiled. He extended one of his long arms towards Carson so they could high-five. "Nice one, Car."

The brunet slapped the darker man's hand and started to laugh at Ayden's reaction.

"That was mean," the blonde whined, crossing her arms. "I have a deep-rooted love for him."

Josiah rolled his eyes. "Uh huh. That's why you asked about Adam Levine first..."

Ayden waved her hand dismissively. "Pshh, details." A soft knock on the door drew all of their attention. "Come in."

The door swung open and Walt appeared in the doorway. He smiled happily at the young adults in front of him. The man walked to the bed and kissed his daughter on the forehead.

"How's it going in here? Getting up to trouble, yet?"

"You know it, dad," Ayden said, letting a tiny amount of sarcasm into her words.

Walt only shook his head. "You getting tired again? You've been awake for a while."

Ayden shrugged. She was feeling a little drowsy. "Maybe."

Walt looked at the young men in the room. "You guys hungry? We can let Ayden catch a few more Z's while we go to lunch." He looked at each person. "How does that sound?"

Josiah and Carson both shrugged while Ayden nodded. They all took turns sharing hugs with the sleepy blonde before the three men made their way out into the hall. Making the usual small talk, they walked through the hospital and made their way to Walt’s car in the parking lot before they made the short, three minute drive up to the closest cafe.

It wasn’t until the three of them were all settled in at a table by the window overlooking the street, that Walt let himself think about what was on his mind for the last few days. He waited until the waitress had taken both their drink and meal orders before he dove right into the heart of the subject.

Walt finished taking a sip of his coffee and then fixed a curious stare upon each of the young men sitting next to each other on the opposite side of the table from him. “So,” he said conversationally, “How long has it been since the two of you became a thing?”

Sage eyes flew wide open and the glass of soda that Josiah had just picked up slipped from his fingers and crashed to the floor. “Oh, shit!” he hissed as his beverage spilled all over his shoes and soaked his socks.

Carson was choking on air as he stared at Walt in complete shock. He felt Josiah’s soda splash off of the ground and hit his legs that weren’t being covered by his shorts, but he ignored it. He had more pressing matters at hand. “How the hell did you find out?” he managed to ask in awe.

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